It has become the case in recent years for personal computers (PCs) or the like to acquire, by using wireless communication such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), content that is retained in mobile terminals, such as smart phones or Wi-Fi equipped digital cameras. Examples of the content acquired in such cases include moving image data captured by digital cameras and application data downloaded by smart phones or the like.
In the following, an example method of acquiring content will be described. As a presetting, a user installs a cooperation application or the like into both a smart phone and a personal computer used by the user and then sets both of them to the same service set identifier (SSID). Specifically, the user sets information with which it is possible to recognize that both the smart phone and the personal computer are registered terminals.
After the presetting is finished in this way, by operating a Wi-Fi function, the smart phone periodically searches for a registered PC that is present in the vicinity of the smart phone. If the smart phone detects a registered PC, the smart phone establishes a Wi-Fi connection with the detected PC. Then, the PC that has established the Wi-Fi connection with the smart phone acquires content from the smart phone and automatically stores therein the acquired content. Thereafter, the smart phone disconnects the Wi-Fi connection with the PC. As described above, a PC can acquire content from a smart phone and the content can also be synchronized between the PC and the smart phone.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-57165
However, with the conventional technology, because mobile terminals, such as smart phones or Wi-Fi equipped video cameras, periodically and repeatedly connect and disconnect to the Wi-Fi connection, there is a problem in that electrical power consumption is large.
In general, mobile terminals are often carried and used by users and thus it is desirable to reduce the electrical power consumption; therefore, from the viewpoint of electrical power consumption, it is not preferable to periodically use a Wi-Fi function that consumes a large amount of electrical power.